Film

Princess Cyd

Name: Princess Cyd
Genre: Romance, Drama
Released: 2017
Cast: Jessie Pinnick, Rebecca Spence, Ro White, James Vincent Meredith, Matthew Quattrocki

Coming-of-age
Slow-burning

A quiet, observant coming-of-age film about a restless teenage girl who spends the summer with her novelist aunt in Chicago and discovers both romantic possibility and intellectual awakening. It moves at its own pace, favoring conversation and small epiphanies over plot. For anyone who craved depth and tenderness in their own teenage years.

TMDb rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like quiet, observant coming-of-age stories where a teenager's growing feelings are shown through small exchanges and long unhurried scenes rather than big dramatic set pieces.

Skip it if you want a brisk plot or a steady stream of incident, since this is a low-key, dialogue-driven film that spends most of its runtime on conversation and mood.

What it asks of you: About ninety-six minutes of patience with slow scenes and understated emotion, with little urgency and a gentle, reflective rhythm throughout.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Moonlight2016

Three chapters following a Black boy becoming a man across different decades, with similar gentleness, grace, and refusal to explain or excuse its characters. Luminous cinematography and quiet emotional precision.

But Very slow and meditative—some find it remote rather than moving. Demands patience and trust from the viewer.

20th Century Women2016

A portrait of a mother and son in 1970s LA trying to understand each other across generational lines. Like Princess Cyd, it privileges character and conversation, with genuine warmth and humor woven through.

But The structure is deliberately loose and rambling. If you want clear plot momentum, you'll feel adrift.

The Half of It2020

A queer coming-of-age romance about identity, desire, and intellectual connection set against small-town constraints. Smart, funny, and genuinely moving without ever feeling like an Afterschool Special.

But The pacing can feel glacial, and the romantic resolution may frustrate those wanting more conventional payoff.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Princess Cyd

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Tangerine2015

Both center queer female desire and identity as the natural subject of a film, not a subplot. Both trust their characters' inner worlds completely.

Shot on iPhone, bursting with energy and humanity. A trans sex worker navigates Los Angeles in 24 hours—raw, funny, and full of love for its characters. Completely different register from Princess Cyd but shares its queer specificity and refusal to make suffering the whole story.

But The style is abrasive and the dialogue overlaps in ways that can be hard to follow. Street-level realism may feel punishing if you came for tender indie romance.

Lady Bird2017

Mother and daughter in Sacramento during senior year, brimming with specificity and humor. A love letter to provincial life and the people who want to escape it. Similar generational tenderness.

But Focuses on family conflict rather than romance. Some find it precious or overly fond of its setting.

Love, Simon2018

A queer teen romance that's earnest and sweet without being saccharine. Affirming and funny, with genuine care for its characters' inner lives beyond the plot machinery.

But More conventionally structured and lighter in tone than Princess Cyd. Feels like a studio film, which it is.

Eighth Grade2018

A raw, unblinking portrait of a thirteen-year-old navigating social anxiety, school, and self-image. Painfully honest without judgment. Director Bo Burnham captures the texture of adolescent consciousness.

But Uncomfortable to watch—it's deliberately unglamorous and sometimes cringe-inducing. Not escapist.

Lean on Pete2018

A boy and a horse, a cross-country journey, quiet moments of grace. Like Princess Cyd, it trusts the audience and finds depth in small scenes. Unexpectedly moving.

But Bleak and sparse. The boy's situation is genuinely sad, and the film doesn't sugar-coat it or resolve everything neatly.

First Reformed2018

A portrait of a woman in spiritual crisis, intellectually rigorous and morally serious. Paul Schrader's meditation on faith, doubt, and connection shares Princess Cyd's interest in interior life.

But Dense, religious, and austere. No romance, minimal plot. Can feel like homework if you're not ready for it.

My Beautiful Laundrette1985

Both films center LGBTQ young people discovering desire and agency in specific, unglamorous places. Both locate queerness in the everyday rather than the dramatic.

Stephen Frears' astonishing 1985 film about a young Pakistani-British man and his working-class lover building a life together in thatcher-era London. Sensual, funny, economically ambitious, and deeply queer before the template existed. Pure cinema.

But Made for British television and shows its era. The class politics are urgent but dense. Some found it dated or tonally uneven on first viewing.

Parable of the Sower

Both pit young women against the constraints of their worlds and trust them to think their way through. Both value intellectual and emotional nuance equally.

An adaptation of Octavia Butler's novel into a limited series, following a teenage girl with hyperempathy in a near-future America. Intellectually rigorous science fiction that shares Princess Cyd's focus on a young woman's inner life, moral reasoning, and growth. Rare, serious, and necessary.

But Heavy subject matter—economic collapse, violence, survival. Not intimate the way Princess Cyd is. Demands engagement with dystopian ideas.